"Silty Mere" pt 3

Much of June came and went with little or no action from the carp for me. I had slogged away hard on tench corner for most of my fishing since May, all I seemed to be catching was more and more tench and big bream on the pellets, so had decided to fish the Active8 mix with a bit more regularity, often using the bait on two out the three rods, This was still producing tench but not so many bream, thankfully, as its no fun getting dragged from my slumbers in the middle of the night for the greedy, slimy bait stealing critters. During this quiet spell for me, Rick was still producing the goods, showing that the application of bait is paramount to producing quality fish on this venue, with many stock fish coming to his rods, but his target fish were still proving elusive. Sighting  fish was easy at this time due to extremely low water levels, the lake is usually around three to four foot deep, but was averaging less than two foot in most swims. Coupled with the weed and algae growth, which was now breaking surface all over the bottom end of the lake in large rafts, the fish were very obviously feeding well, being seen cruising in all areas of the lake and the weights of the fish were on the increase now after spawning but they would soon drop down again after a second spawn towards the end of this month.

            

I felt the need for a move again, even though I found I could see and target fish in and around tench corner I was having little or no action from the carp. My next session saw me make the long walk to the back wall. On arrival on the Friday morning I pushed myself to ignore some obvious small stockys in tench corner and cart my kit all the way round to the back wall. After positioning baits in the now rapidly disappearing clay strip I settled into the alders for some serious lake watching, I could see fish cruising all over the lake, many were just hanging off the sunken island in about a foot or two of water. I was not too keen on fishing baits tight to these snags in such shallow water, as the fish in here fight like animals and usually strip line from the reels at such a rate that if you were off the rods any more than a yard and the fish would easily get themselves into these snags.

By mid day a cooling southerly wind had sprung up and started to push into the reeds and the bay to my left, in no time at all fish were starting to show tight into the reeds. They were rolling and crashing right out and not one to miss out on an opportunity of some surface fishing I quickly set up a rod, grabbed my stalking kit and walked back the way I had come to the entrance of the reeds. Upon arrival on the boards I moved along with caution as the fish were just behind a weed bed in front of the third platform. I crouched down low and made my way onto the end platform, immediately a fish bowed out from underneath my feet, how had I not seen it? Thankfully the other fish in front of me did not seem too bothered by this and continued to roll and rise at anything drifting across their heads. I let fly with a few pouches of dog biscuits well beyond the fish to allow the breeze to carry them back towards me. I cast my controller well beyond them and gradually drew it back towards the fish. Unbelievably they would not take even a single biscuit off the top let alone my hook bait. After a frustrating hour of this I came to realise that there was a hatch of flies in progress and thought my chances of catching were slim if non existent, they were far to preoccupied with the natural food larder. I tried to create a hook bait from reed mace heads by wrapping the seed fluff up and spinning it onto the hook shank but the fish were oblivious to all my hard work.

As I was leaving the boards I noticed two fish just hanging off the first platform, and with little commitment I flicked a bait towards them, it landed on top of one of the fish which turned and sucked at the bait. I struck, far too early, and missed the half hearted take, I felt like doing myself in as both fish left the swim at speed, causing bow waves right across the lake. Annoyed with myself I felt like I had missed out on a good opportunity and decided to try the other fish again for one last try. As I crept down towards the third platform I could hear them slurping and rolling tight in to the reeds and as I turned to enter the platform I saw the fish were right under my feet. I flicked out some bait and they attacked it with vigour as if they were starving. Why now and not half an hour earlier? I was sure these were the same fish as before. A big dark mirror with large plates rolled, it was for certain one of my target fish, a very heavily scaled mirror carp I badly wanted to catch, I dropped a bait just in front of it and with a flick of it’s tail it rose and took it . I struck and was pleased to see my rod arc all the way round, he was on! The fish thrashed the water to a foam and all the others shot out from the area. I was obviously going to have to give line, and did so, but not quick enough. The line parted from the hook length like the crack of a rifle being fired next to my ear.

           

Distraught, I left the platforms and the reeds behind me and headed back to my swim. I was in a mess, my face and arms were burnt to a crisp from the direct sun I was receiving whilst sitting on the boards, it was only now I noticed how much pain I was in. I coated myself in sun cream, too late I’m sure, and put my rods back out onto the clay bar. I felt like I was suffering from sunstroke and decided on trying to get some sleep. I awoke hours later with the arrival of my mate. Having told him of the days proceedings he decided to dump his kit and get onto the boards for a go at them off the top, good lad, and it wasn’t long before he was back round getting his camera kit having just successfully landed the scaley mirror id lost earlier, how gutted was I! and where was my hook ? gone.

 The following morning brought a cold cloudy miserable day, this was a relief to my sore, burnt extremities. The fish had disappeared overnight and I believed them to have moved up to the shallows, too sore to carry my kit back round there, I stayed put and brewed up, breakfast done, all eyes were on the lake in front of me. In time fish would be showing at range, well out of my casting ability, but nevertheless out went two single hook baits as far as I could thrash them. Later in the afternoon one of these bolted off and produced a fish that tore off to the right with tremendous power, I managed to turn it, only for it to take more line and head left towards the boards, eventually after a long drawn out fight by a powerful fish Rick netted it for me and as we looked into the net we found it to be a recapture, but I was happy. He was down in weight at 18lb 4oz since my first capture of him at a needle width over 20lbs but at least it was a fish. After the previous day anything, even a bream, might have made me smile.

Out went the rod again to the same spot, and within minutes away went the other rod, a short but hectic struggle saw me manage to net a stunning stock fish of 15lb 11 oz with a reverse ‘C’ scale on its left tail wrist. Made up with myself I felt like I had more than made up for my losses earlier in the session, but losing the scaley mirror still troubled me. Other than Rick persevering on the boards with the surface baits the remainder of the session saw little action on the back wall and the following morning saw us pack up early and leave for the long drive home. Still it was good to be back amongst the fish again.

 I could not wait for the following weekend to come but wait I must due to work and family commitments. I arrived to find fish showing all over the lake, many of which I’m sure were the large shoals of bream. The water level seemed to be dropping every week due to the distinct lack of rain. Some of the larger framed carp were permanently swimming around the back wall with their backs out of the water, this made them really easy to locate, but gave rise to panic attacks every time they came close to my baits. It was whilst watching one of these fish that I saw him tilt up and then settle himself. Suddenly he froze. This is when he seemed to realise something was wrong with the hook bait in his mouth, he shook his head violently trying to expel the pellet but to no avail, as I ran towards the rods he decided he wanted to find sanctuary on the other side of the lake. Away he went and after a short but spirited fight he was on the bank. His colouring had changed from a deep chestnut on his upper body to an olive green colour, I think this was due to the lack of depth for him to hide away from the sun. Other than a circular scar on his left flank he was in beautiful condition. From what I could see and from information I could gather from the other anglers he was the only fish to be caught that weekend.

21lb

The following week saw me set up, again on the back wall, this was due to the lake now being virtually un-fishable on most of the meadow side. The rafts of weed had now joined together to produce a solid mat from peg two all the way into the reed beds, covering ninety percent of the lake. The Friday afternoon and night were very quiet with neither of us seeing any action. Over the course of the Friday I must have introduced about 3kg of 21 mm pellets with a dozen large pva bags of 3 and 6mm pellets.

            

Rick and I were now the only  anglers on the lake who seemed to be working hard at their fishing, we were up before daybreak re-baiting as the pellets were starting to break down after only six or eight hours in the very warm water. By being awake for first light gave us the advantage of seeing where the fish were before anybody else thus enabling us to move onto the fish before the other lads woke. This morning the fish were hanging around in the vicinity of our baits so we stayed put. From about six that morning I was up the willow tree on the left of my peg watching one of the big girls come in over my baits every twenty minutes or so. This was exhilarating, each time feeding for a short while then leaving the swim and cruising around the sunken island then back again for another bite to eat. She knew where her breakfast was and couldn’t help herself, well she did have a lot of weight to put on after her spawning. Last time she was caught she was in the regions of 26lb being down 3lbs or more! Each time she arrived in the swim my heart started to race with anticipation of catching her. In she would come, down would go her head, out would come her tail and a good portion of her body.  This went on for hours. I was getting baffled as to why she had not picked up my hook bait. I was getting line bites every visit but no pick ups. This time as she left my swim, following the same route as she had all morning, I reeled in to find my hook had pricked the lead core on the cast earlier that morning and was stuck fast. A quick sort out and a re-bait saw my rig in position before she returned. Still she didn’t pick it up. 

27lb 8oz down in weight since spawning
but in fine condition

At around midday she made her mistake, picking up my pellet and slowly moving off for what seemed like another mouthful. As the line tightened she froze. Realising her mistake she powered off up the lake. After an untroubled fight she rolled across the front of my landing net. I turned to Rick to apologise. He smiled knowingly and shrugged, saying” I didn’t want to catch her anyway till she gets her weight back up ”. She was unhooked quickly and put in the sling just to monitor any weight gain since her last capture. 27 lb 8oz went the dial and after a quick photo-shoot away she swam, straight out over my baits and into the snags. Brew on. Smiles all round.

In hindsight I realise that I might have been putting far too much bait in, seeing as the fish were not actually in front of us in numbers, but it also shows how much of a pig this fish can be and how effective these baits are at triggering a response from this greedy fish.

"Silty Mere" pt 2

The following weekend could not come round quick enough, I knew where the common was feeding and I just had to get back up there. With a little re-organisation at home I managed to get back on the silty mere by the Wednesday morning just 50 or so hours after leaving. On arriving I found I had the place to myself. Elated I crept down to tench corner and proceeded to set up way back from the swim, whilst doing this I saw a few fish cruising at range, it was going to go off I thought. I was here till Sunday, it just had to go off !

Two rods out on the clear spots at 70 yards and one for the common as usual in the margin to my right, saw me settling in anticipation, suddenly a screamer developed within twenty minutes of casting. I hit the rod and it arced over, the fish stripped line and took some stopping, eventually turning it and guiding it towards the bank and a waiting net, onto the mat it went, again a mirror with few scales, at first glance, I thought I had caught Ricks first mirror but soon realised that there was no black eye I had caught a similar but different fish. At 24lb 3oz she went into a sack whilst I got myself sorted. I had recently purchased a digital camera and this was to be the first capture since doing so. Once all the kit was ready, the sack was brought in from the margin and the fish went up in my arms. A couple of clicks later and the shots were done, a quick check of the photos, perfect, and away she went, not the common that was plaguing my thoughts, but what the hell, a lovely looking fish. This I later found out was another of the originals at a good weight, but to be fair she was carrying a good amount of spawn in her. 

24lb+ mirror

As the day wore on it became obvious that most of the smaller fish seemed preoccupied with the yearly rituals of spawning, I was a little gutted as I thought that was going to be it.  Many fish were starting to show in the little bay on the back wall. That was enough for me, I quickly reeled in, grabbed my surface fishing kit and marched around. This area is where nearly all the mosquitoes and midges in the world seem to like to live. Within minutes I was being eaten alive. I got up on my feet and started to have a good mooch round the margins, trying to find the fish. Whilst doing so I started to scatter surface baits all round this end of the lake, with this breeze and heat wave, I was sure a take would be coming off the top, if only I could persevere with it. Onto the boards I went armed with a rod, mat, dog biscuits and net. 

          
All day I continued to feed baits in with only the occasional fish showing interest in them, (but lots of mozzies taking a serious interest in my head, face and arms,) slurping down one after the other, but not the hook bait. This was going to be harder than I thought. There were a lot of fish too busy cavorting with each other to show a great deal of interest, but nevertheless I slogged away in the heat of the afternoon sun. Hours later, dejected, I made my way off the boards and back to my kit. With the arrival of Chris soon after asking if anything was showing, I told him of my capture and showed him the pictures on the camera, but kept my surface fishing knowledge to myself. Having seen so many fish on the far bank I decided to give up tench corner to him and haul my ass over to the back wall, for the night, sure I was going to catch.

The moment i rounded the corner and started the short walk along the bank I saw that what must have been the entire carp population were now in the bay with many of the smaller fish spawning heavily. I persevered with the surface baits but could not get a take.

All evening they kept it up, right in front of my nose, even during the hours of darkness I could here them thrashing the water to a foam further into the bay to my left. After putting up with a large shoal of ‘tinca’s’ all night, I was knackered and in serious need of sleep and at first light I wandered into the bay to see that all the fish were still at it. Out went a few pouches of dog biscuits and up came a few fish, slurping away at the baits. I overcast the fish and excitedly drew my hook bait into the area, they ignored it. Shortly after this, a chap arrived who my mate had gone to France with the winter before, he saw what was happening and instantly set up a surface rod. Within minutes he had had a take and landed a fish just over 19 lbs she was bursting with spawn, and therefore handled with extra special care, quickly photographed and back she went to be immediately courted by some smaller stock fish. Again within no time this bloke had another fish on the bank, an ‘ocean’ fish, at around 15lbs. I was made up to see they were having it, but when was it going to be my turn. These felt like they were my fish, I had got them going on the baits and now he was catching them all. I moved tighter into the bay near the drain point and cast my bait tight to the overhanging trees, in no time at all a fish rose and slurped the dog biscuit in, I struck, the line parted and out bolted the fish into the main body of the lake, followed by its companions. I could have cried, instead, a smoke and a brew was in order.

By late morning I was as sunburned as you could possibly get, two days in this strong sun, with little or no sleep, and I was exhausted. I heard a crash to my left and saw that this bloke was into another, this time it was the first fish I had banked earlier in the year at again a weight of 22lbs exactly. That is it! I was frustrated so back to it I went. I swung my baited hook towards the tree, where I had lost the other fish and crouched into the long grass. With the lilies alongside me on the right I knew if I did have a take I would not be letting it go anywhere near them. Slurp, away went the bait into a rather large mouth, up went the rod and I was finally in! Off it went steaming away, trying to get into the trees, not a big fish I thought, till it changed direction and steamed into the pads, there was little I could do to stop it. I locked up my clutch to stop it taking line and let the rod take all the strain, the fish wallowed and I caught a glimpse of scales, yes I thought I’ve caught the smaller common, known to be about 17lbs, I felt a little disappointed even though this was still a good common. The bloke was alongside me with the net waiting as I turned the fish again and again all the while it tried to gain cover under the trees or the pads but to no avail, I wasn’t going to let it get under either. She rolled onto my line and with a grating feeling gradually came over the front of the net. “It’s the big common” he said, I went to pieces, dropping the rod and dancing round in circles. Elation wasn’t the word.

Photographs done, the common weighed in at a staggering 27lbs 4oz! She was mine at last. Away she swam out of the bay to the sanctuary of the sunken snags. I collapsed on my bed and gave up. Job jobbed. All my life I had so badly wanted to catch a really big common. Now I had just smashed my personal best common by about 10lbs. If another fish was never to grace my net I would not have cared at that time.

The greatest reward i could have hoped for and
off the top made it so much more special

Phone calls had to be made, Rick was the first and rightly so, he had been there with me all the way, and I just wished he could have been there at the time. As I spoke to him over the phone I was looking at the camera images in my hand with a grin on my face that would have made the Cheshire cat proud. Phone calls home and then texts to a few mates before the kettle and a smoke went on. The phone would not stop beeping with messages of congratulations coming in. Physically and mentally, i was in a mess.

With the afternoon sun bearing down on me I cleaned myself up and lay back trying to sleep. It was impossible. That night I put all my rods onto the rests with the rigs in the eyes. Confident the carp wouldn’t be feeding yet, as most of them were still spawning, I wasn’t prepared to put baits out for the tench tonight. I needed sleep.

Since the battle with, and the capture of the common, most of the fish had moved along the reed bed towards tench corner. Chris had seen this and moved his baits accordingly. Good angling. I slept most of the night but awoke to the sound of a text coming through off Chris. It stated that the fish were all over the place in front of him and to come and get a piece of it! I don’t think I’ve ever wrapped up so quickly. I was with him in about 20 minutes looking and watching fish crash and roll all over the rafts of hornwort. A big mirror rolled about 15 yards out, that was it for me, out went some biscuits and up came some fish. A baited hook was flicked out, but again they didn’t really show any interest in the hook bait but would feed on the freebies. I changed down in hook size and fitted a buoyant imitation mixer on the hook and recast. Immediately the mirror came up surrounded by half a dozen smaller fish, she slurped and away went the bait into the cavernous mouth.

Up went the rod and round went the spool, she took off on a very short run. The weed beds helped to control it as there was nowhere for it to get up speed, the issue was going to be getting it back to the bank over the rafts of  weed. The fish battled hard once in the clear margins and was instantly recognised to be the big mirror, flapping due to knowing i was attached to the big girl i steadied myself and relaxed into the fight and in no time she was under control and banked within a few minutes, this due to her probably being worn out, from the last few days cavorting.

            If she hadn’t looked so much bigger than the last time I had banked her a month or so earlier, I would not have weighed her in her condition, but very carefully we unhooked her and I was ecstatic, could she go 30lb?  Not quite as it happens just short at a weight of 29lb 12 oz but i didn't care, what a brace.

a personal best mirror less than 20 hours after a personal best common,
it doesn't get better than that !

I went to phone Rick, but thought better of it, he would be here in a few hours anyway and knowing how badly he wanted this fish, I didn’t want to do his head in while he was stuck in work, I had just caught two out of three of both our target fish in just under 20 hours.

Chris and I both slogged away at the remaining fish that were showing but neither of us could buy a take. Rick arrived and I spilled the beans to him, he was made up for me, that was obvious, but I could tell he was a little gutted as the odds of him catching these fish now grew even less, certainly for this weekend. Chris wrapped and said his goodbyes, leaving us with a handful of fish still in the area taking the occasional dog biscuit off the top. It would be early evening when Rick had a nice mid double fish off the top. I followed this with a grey speckled fish of 17lb 3oz at about 8 o’clock and then a smaller mirror of 15lb 2oz with an hour of light left before dark. What an amazing weekend. I fished through till Saturday evening with nothing other than a few tench to around 5lbs for my troubles. Even though I had 24 hours of my session left I called it a day. Enough’s enough, I was wasted, burnt to a crisp and eaten alive. I wonder what the mozzies eat when I’m not there?

"Silty Mere" pt 1

Silty mere is a series I wrote about around 10 yrs ago, Its a very typical silty Cheshire mere of around 12 acres set in the heart of the northwest of England. I have changed the name of the venue and some details about the fish and venue to respect the anglers that may be fishing it these days, Sadly, i believe some of these great aged fish are no longer with us. 

Silty Mere

We arrived at the Silty mere early on a frosty November morning having checked in through the security offices. First impressions of the lake made us realise the size of the venue. At twelve acres this was to be a step up in size from the venues id been fishing on for the last few years. The lake appeared to be an open expanse of featureless water, with marginal reeds and an occasional clump of dying lilies along the meadow bank. With stocking levels of about 40-50 carp this was to provide us with a serious challenge for the coming season. With a long ‘meadow’ stretch, a long reed bed and a wooded ‘back wall’ section there totalled 12 pegs and 7 platforms, these being set among the dense south facing reed beds. 

We had been shown the lake the week previously and had instantly decided to obtain memberships. The following weekend saw us making the long haul from the car park to the back wall. A walk of about a mile. Not! 

We collapsed, two knackered anglers, too knackered to go any further, on ‘tench corner’ realising that a serious overhaul of the kit would be in order for us to get any further round the lake. Oh well this looked as good a spot as anywhere. We set up and proceeded to mark out the features of the lake.

For the first 5 or so yards the bottom of the lake was clear after which it was absolutely choked with weed so thick that it was hard to reel in. This weed was hornwort, a rootless, clump forming species that covers the bottoms of the Cheshire meres. It appeared to have about a foot of water above it, all the way out. We checked the area to our left and found no change. Having felt the leads hit the bottom, Peg 2 seemed a little clearer, but trying to find the same spot twice was nigh on impossible. Rick got up an oak tree and came down with a glum face, “the whole lake is choked” he groaned. Oh well back to the kit and a rethink.

I tied up three bags of pellet and crumbed boilie’s and launched those skywards 100, 70 and 40 yards. Sorted. Not much more I can do I thought, kit organised and kettle on. After an uneventful night we reeled in heavily weeded rigs and decided a walk round the lake was in order.

 On the back wall we met a couple of anglers one being the bailiff ‘Andy who we would later become good friends with and ‘Stuart’ who we would see little of throughout the year. One of the lads, we immediately noticed had two rods on the rests with unbaited hooks. It turned out he had just returned what he described as a small carp at about 18lb! Well if that’s small I’m going to be a happy chap on here I thought.

Andy proceeded to show us pictures of some of the larger residents in the lake. ‘The common’ and two big mirrors instantly caught the attention of both Rick and I. After a chat with these lads, it turned out that there were some clear spots on tench corner but you had to look hard to find them. That was it, back round we went to start chucking leads again. We did find some clear spots but they were not of any size. The same lad caught another fish that weekend and from what we could see, it seemed to be quite sizable. We caught nothing over the weekend but left happy and full of promise as to how to approach the lake the following week.

It would actually be on a freezing cold mid December night before any fish were to grace the banks to either of us. We had been fishing the back wall since our second weekend much to the annoyance of one of the regulars. The reasons were obvious, he had had success! plus, the weed problem was nowhere near as bad over this side. I had found a nice clear strip of clay at about 40 yards out and had been feeding these spots for a few weeks. Fish were still gracing the banks for a couple of the lads no matter where they fished, but neither Rick nor I could buy a take. We were down but not about to give up yet. Just as light was starting to break on the Saturday morning Ricks right hand rod went off like a rocket. He hit it and the rod went round and kept on going. The fish was going mad. Then ping nothing, it was off, his face said it all, there was nothing I could say, I turned and put the kettle on.

With eyes on the water we sat around glumly for the rest of the day not really saying much, both feeling that we had been cheated. It was obviously a good fish, and a chance missed. The night closed in early but we were adamant we were going to watch the lake for signs of fish activity. The security lights from the offices in the distance enabled us to see right across to the far bank. All night we watched but saw nothing. It went below zero that night and whilst shivering in my bag eventually sleep came to me. I was blasted out of it in the early hours by the sound of Rick calling my name. “I’ve got another one on” he said. I looked out to see him with rod fully curved into what appeared to be a good fish; it was still taking line and heading towards the snaggy sunken island to the right. He managed to turn it and under steady pressure gradually ease it towards the net; the fight seemed to last a lifetime but eventually it was in the net first time. I lifted it and smiling turned to Ritchie and said “good lad there’s the first 20” She was near leather, with just a few scales along her dorsal fin, of huge proportions weighing in at just over 24lb. There and then she was sacked up, for the remaining hours of darkness in the peg along from our position, and left to settle in peace. Kettle on, we were buzzing!

She was photographed at first light and returned, she bowed out in a big way as she left the swim, straight towards the snag island she had been trying to get to during the fight. We left that morning full of hope and cheer gagging to get back before we had even got our kit to the car park. We fished another couple of weekends right through to the freeze up in mid January,

getting out past the marginal ice

this was to last for about three weeks, and by the time we were able to get back there, Ricks baby was well due and he didn’t want to be that far away, which was fully understandable. It was to be late February when we could make another visit.

Boy was this place hard. We had fished Friday till Sunday morning for the last 10 weekends, for one loss and a twenty, not counting numerous Coots, Grebes and Mallards, what have I got to complain about, well I hadn’t had a touch. Although it was winter I was used to catching carp in the heavily stocked club waters. I got us a guest permit for a day session on one of the club waters and sneaked us on the evening before, big mistake we got collared, and I was shortly after kicked out of the club, oh well you live and learn. Anyway this was the break away from these smaller waters that I needed. It was the silty mere or bust from now on.

March came and was nearly over before fish started to get seen and caught, one chap had shown up regularly again and was starting to catch in the shallows, this had to be worth checking out. Seeing as when we plumbed it we found no more than 18 inches of water we had discounted the peg as useless. Big mistake, this chap had 14 fish in a 5 day session! Good angling. His catch comprised mainly of the newest stock fish  ‘the Simo’s ‘ with a couple of the ‘ocean fish’ stock and a twenty. We were never sure which one it was, he’s a quiet one that lad.

By mid April I was starting to feel like there was something seriously wrong with my rigs, Rick had had a good session on the shallows with a few Simo’s and  a heavily plated mirror at just over 20lb. I had started to fish tench corner again as often as I could get on it as the weed had died off during the winter and hadn’t started growing back just yet. Whilst my rods were out, I got up into the alders at the edge of my swim and had a look about with the polarising glasses on. There was my braid going out to my lead core and rig and bait, all nice and visible. Shit this was 30 yards out, if I could see it then I’m damn sure the carp could see it too, that would explain the couple of times fish had bowed out from in front of me. Down the  tree I went and dragged all the rods in. Gutted, had I been wasting the last 5 months? I went and chatted to Rick, telling him of my predicament.

OK, shock leaders on to start with, we had a look at the rigs in the water, much better at least the braid stopped 6 yards away from my rigs. After a few other refinements comprising of me coming off braided hook-lengths and going onto combi rigs with 2 inch supple braided hook-lengths, I was reasonably happy to put this set up in the water, it was pretty much invisible from the point where the shock leaders joined the braid, my confidence was back. A week later saw me back on tench corner, fishing 2 rods at range where we had seen fish regularly show in the last few weeks, brimming with confidence, all rods in, baited and settled. With no other anglers near on this bank, except Rick fishing on peg 2, I had quite a large area to myself. 

Once the old close season had arrived, so had a lot of lads from a local big fish circuit water, the lake was very busy with all pegs taken by the Friday evening. Two people we spoke to and got on well with, Chris and Rob, both seemed pretty sound lads. Well between myself and Chris, nobody else had fished tench corner for weeks, he had been catching a few good fish from range and the occasional fish off a small set of reeds next to the peg. This weekend he had seen some fish moving on the far bank and gone round to the back wall.

               

Friday came and went uneventful as usual, this was becoming routine, Mid-day Saturday and I’m lounging in the sun with my chair next to the rods, watching, when a good fish rolled where I was really sure I had a bait. The bobbin hit the rod and went off on one. The line ripping off the spool, I had forgotten what I had to do! Seconds went by when I finally got to grips with rod and fish, this was a lump!

                Rick had seen what had gone on from his peg, dragged his rods in and arrived before I had the fish under control, with net in the water he crouched patiently for me to tire the fish out, in first time, Yessss! A silty mere 20 for sure as my first fish. I lost the plot and Rick had to do the weighing and treating, good lad. All I had to do was hold it for the camera. The fish had a huge frame for its weight and had a two tone colouring. It was recognised as one of the originals and weighed in at 22lb exactly.

22lb 

Elated we slipped her back and watched her swim away unperturbed by what had just happened to her. Me, I was a mess. We sat, and I smoked, and drank coffee. I couldn’t even be bothered to bait up and recast. I said a strange thing to Rich as we sat   ” How big are the biggies going to look !!”

About 40 minutes later as we were still chatting I got a bleep on my other range rod, as I turned to look at the bobbin the whole rod shook and the alarm started to scream and the reel give line, lots of it. A bow wave cut across the lake heading out towards the middle, I was not ready for this, my arm still hurt. With words of encouragement from Rick, I made a better job of playing this fish and soon had an enormous fish ploughing up and down the margins in front of us, not wanting to give itself up.

Minutes later she rolled into my net, Rick lifted and let out a shout, “you got the big girl mate”,  we placed her on the mat and settled her down, gradually pouring water over her, she was long and deep, I had never seen a fish of these proportions outside of magazines. I trembled so much during the weighing that Rick did a proper job and she finally settled the scales round to 29lb exactly, a personal best at the time.

 

29lb and a personal best fish 

After a couple more long blank weekends of watching fish at range, I felt as though a change was in order and decided that maybe a roving approach might be worth a shot, with maybe some surface fishing thrown in. After yet another strip down of the kit I was ready to go at them again, wherever they were to be found. I arrived equipped with a couple of kilos of dog biscuits which I was sure would get them up on the top in the fine sunny weather we had been having. Upon arrival at the shallows I could see maybe ten to fifteen fish cruising around in the shallow water, they were following the light breeze and looked like they were feeding, on closer inspection I could see areas that were clouded up, definitely feeding ! Brimming with hope and confidence I flicked out some surface baits, these drifted over the heads of the fish and were completely ignored, time and time again I fired out these irresistible morsels only to see the fish show no interest whatsoever in them. Time for a rethink.

I put out three rods, one to the little island on the left, one at about 60 yards and the other in the margin, tight on the reed bed to my right. After putting out some pellets to the marginal swims I sat back and got all my bits sorted. A few hours before darkness and I still had not had a touch. Yet the fish were happily cruising around the vicinity of all three baited spots,. They must be having it at night I thought. Rick arrived at about 6 pm, saw all the fish in my swim and left me to it, wishing me lots of luck. He made the walk to the back wall promising that he would see me in the morning. Darkness came along with the rain and wind. Just before midnight I received a run from the little island on my left, the fish fought hard and I was pleasantly surprised to find a small stocky, lost in the bottom of my landing net, nevertheless on the scales it went, for its size the fish weighed a staggering 9lb 12oz. A quick photo on the mat and back it went. This was certainly a fish for the future.

At daybreak I came to realise that the fish that had been in front of me the previous day had left in the night. I searched the area thoroughly but could see nothing. A move seemed in order. I wrapped my kit and started to walk to the back wall to join Rick. Passing Chris on peg 3 on the way, he mentioned that a big fish had crashed out in the early hours of the morning in tench corner. Seeing as I was passing the swim I decided to pause and have a good look around. Up into the alders I went, and upon looking down into the water I saw a couple of fair sized fish at about 60 yards out over a clear patch. They seemed preoccupied, with their heads down, puffing up great clouds of black silt. That’s enough for me. As I climbed down out of the trees a fish bowed out from the reeds under my feet in the margin, it was the big common! How had I missed that? It went about 30yards along the bank to my left and stopped, turning out into the lake. That was it I’m in here I thought and proceeded to set up. Rods out to the clear patch and a lovely tight margin to my right. The margin was baited up with a load of big halibut pellets over a bed of smaller pellets.

Throughout the day fish were seen coming in and out of tench corner on a regular basis, but I didn’t see any sign of the common again. I had tried surface fishing for much of the day but could not get the fish to respond, they would not even take any of the free offerings. A couple of the regulars told me that these fish are never caught off the top. This I like to hear from anglers as I feel that most of them will have given up trying, I have never failed to catch on any lake using this method, although often it takes great effort. Time ran out, darkness fell and into the bag I went.

                

At some point before first light on the Sunday morning a roaring take on the marginal rod saw me out of my bag with a rod fully curved round and a fish belting off towards the reeds 60 yards away, there was no slowing it. The fish reached the sanctity of the reeds and went solid, with patience and constant pressure it came out and went haring off up the lake, for no apparent reason the fish shed the hook, and left me gutted. I reeled in the rod and threw it against the bivvy. Thankfully no one had seen the happenings. A quick check on the time and I had another two hours before daybreak. I climbed back into the sack and lay there, sure that I had just lost my prized common. After a few minutes I decided that I should get up and recast the rod into the margins again, so after drilling and mounting another pellet I re-positioned the rod. On went the kettle and a smoke was rolled.

Light was creeping in when the same rod buried round to the right again, I was ready this time as the fish roared off. Again it flew out towards the reed beds, you aren’t getting there this time thought and started to apply pressure to the rod, the fish fought for what seemed like an eternity before things were going my way. Finally the fish was turned and into the net it went, a quick glance told me it was big. Whilst unhooking it I noticed a very fresh, bleeding tear in the opposite side of its mouth . Was this the same fish as I had lost earlier? Nobody else was up and about, I like to think it was the same fish and not my sought after common. Into a sack it went and after tying it up tightly in the margin along the bank I went to find someone to photograph it. A bloke who I have never seen before or since, did the honor's and we weighed the fish at a little over 20lb. The fish was a mirror, with the biggest pectoral fins I had ever seen, no wonder it went off at the speed it did.

20lb and ounces

I was elated, photos done, fish returned and I was off round the other side to see Rick. The fish turned out to be another of the originals and was carrying extra weight, usually it showed at about 18 and a half pounds, Andy was happy to find out that it was putting on weight as he told us it hadn’t gained much weight in a decade.

Over the next two weeks I had seen the common many times and always in the same spots. That was it I thought I’m on to something here. Two weeks of blanking in the same peg saw me confused and brought back down to earth. I arrived on the Friday to find a new bloke on the lake, in tench corner, I chatted and found out he was only doing the night as it was his first session, so I set up in the adjacent swim ready for a move the next morning. As daylight broke on the Saturday morning I heard the sound of an alarm that wasn’t mine, I looked out to see this bloke playing a good fish under his rod tip. I ran out to help and got the net ready, gutted, I saw what he had on, my much wanted common, I could have cried. That’s it till later in the year I thought. He soon had the fish on the bank and after weighing her at 27lbs, I took the photographs for him and back she went. This chap started to wrap up, saying that he wouldn’t be back as that was the only fish he had come for ! I moved into the peg straight away and proceeded to blank for the rest off the weekend. The following few weeks saw the common get caught every time i was there to whoever was fishing near me, but never to me, Chris had it feeding on maple8 boilie’s at about 2 foot from the bank in the same spot on a daily basis and he was soon to catch the magnificent fish at a weight of just over 27lbs. Would it ever be my turn?

The Black Water session 6

It had been over a month since the last visit up here and to say i was keen to get up there was an understatement, with 2 fish on my want list, time is running out before my thoughts will have to turn to the new syndicate water I'm starting in January.
Arriving at 5.30 i was setting up and getting the rods into the margins till first light, by 6 the wind was howling and pushing into the shallows so a rod was walked down to the little bay and flicked out with half a dozen bacteria B1's in the vicinity and set onto the rod pod. By the time the bivvy was organised and the baits prepared for the other 2 rods in readiness for first light, the kettle was puffing away and the first cuppa of the morning was sliding down nicely.
As the dawn broke over the lake it was time to get the 2 rods into place, one rod was to be fished to the far side snag tree area and using a small once ounce lead a few trial casts had me clipped up at the correct range, being careful to stay to the left of the underwater debris, and once hte lines had been wound around the the marker poles, getting the rod back over there was not going to be an issue. The right hand rod was fished onto the plateau id previously fished and caught the big mirror from. Both rods went out on small bags of crushed B1 with 15 baits flicked out with the throwing stick in the general vicinity of the rigs, i would like to have concentrated the baits a bit tighter but in this wind it was going to be impossible.

Soon after proper daylight had broken through the wind started to pick up, it was howling through the support bars of the bivvy.  The short winter days really limit how much time you can spend trying to watch for fish but eyes were on the lake for signs but to no avail, in these gales and crashing waves, unless a fish rocked right out then sighting anything was not going to happen.
By lunchtime the gusts were getting ridiculous and i started to question my sanity, the lake is very exposed and the winds were screeching off the nearby hills and mountains. The bivvy was getting shaken around like a rag doll and kept threatening to rip the pegs from the ground. To leave the sanctuary of the bivvy was tough, all my body heat was wicked away and the gusting wind was nearly strong enough to take you off your feet.
With darkness coming on, the weather took a turn for the worse! The violent gusts were getting stronger, i nipped out and trod the pegs in even deeper. During the afternoon a friend had arrived and chosen to fish to my left so the bay rod had been moved to the margins to my left. It was now being fished in 5 ft of water with a half dozen pouches of 3mm pellets over it. With the waves crashing on the banks and driving rain joining in with the roaring of the wind, even listening to music was impossible and an early night was on the cards. I was woken by my mate not long before midnight to photograph a fish, it was a common and a new personal biggest for him.

Sleeping wasn't likely to happen with the noise of the winds and rain, but eventually i dropped off, waking at around 3am to silence, a flat calm lake and the most stunning dark night sky id seen for a while. Come morning the day broke with sun and clear sky's, with a light wind pushing from the northwest. Such a difference to the previous day. After a good breakfast it was time to keep a watch for fish. There was still a heavy chop on the surface and nothing was seen, although i did get to see a "Little Egret" which was a nice addition to the lovely sunny morning. The day looked perfect for a fish ! Leaving the rods in place, wanting to keep disturbance down to a minimum, sadly the day passed fish less and it was time to start the pack down and make the journey home, for once, with a lovely dry bivvy !

Return to the hills

With the opportunity to get out for 4 nights coming, up my mind was set on getting out and banking some fish, times have been tough recently with just one take in the last 7 or 8 nights of angling on the Black water, which resulted in a loss, i wanted to go somewhere where my confidence would be high and with good chances of fish coming to the rods so decided a trip up into the hills was in order. I feel i understand the fish in this lake somewhat and its been very kind to me over the last few visits up there. Its no walk in the park mind you, but the fish do like bait and when presented in certain areas they just cant help but get on it !

Not wanting to get stuck in traffic on the Wednesday morning i decided to wait for the morning rush to pass and set off from home at 9.30am and arrived at the lake for around 11.30 having had a mellow untroubled drive up there. Upon opening the gate my hand slipped off the bar and i ripped the back of my hand open in a few places, peeling back a nice flap of skin, this erupted in blood and i wasn't sure quite how bad it was. Rinsing it ff with some water from the car i realised it wasn't as bad as i initially thought, so wrapping it in a bundle of loo roll i started to shift the kit to the area i had planned to fish. It not often i arrive with a preconceived idea but i know the fish have to pass me to move out of the bay into the main body of water and back again, so my plan was rather preformed.

The wind was pushing from the northwest into the bay and it looked perfect although it was really cold. Once the kit was sorted the rods were positioned, one deep into the bay towards the far corner, one off the point and one rod out to the island, these areas have been productive for me each time I've fished the venue so confidence was riding high. Each rod was fished with a lead core leader as protection from the many sunken boulders along the edge of the bay and fitted out with 6 inch Gardner Sink Skin coated braid hook links set up in a blow back style with long hairs, onto each was placed a 16mm SAE Bacteria B1 and a 10mm Scud pop up to balance the bottom bait out. The hook links were threaded through bags of crumbed B1's and 1mm fry pellets with a couple of pva nuggets in each to encourage the bags to blow part once they hit the bottom. Once they blow the pva pops to the surface giving me a good marker to get some freebies out in the vicinity. The rod covering the point was given a liberal covering with around 30 baits spread out around it, the other two rods i left as single bags as i wanted to present a main area of high density bait, allowing me to move the other 2 rods about, searching for the fish.

At 1.30 i had just lit the stove under the kettle when the rod off the point erupted into life, lifting into a fish i leaned on the rod to bully it away from the rocks that make up the point and once into open water it rose to the surface and gave a pretty good scrap to the waiting net, odd but at no time during the fight did the fish try to dive. Once banked and photographed it was weighed in at 13lb exactly and it was certainly a fish i had not had previously. Then came the rain, sleet, snow then hail. Tucked up in the shelter wasn't too bad but once outside any heat was wicked away by the cold wind.

Over the moon to be off the mark so early the rod was re baited and dropped the 30 yards back onto the spot. Brew in hand i had a little wander up the bank to the bay to see if there were any signs of the fish tucked up under the trees, but no signs of them at all, great news as they must be moving around. By the time id wandered my way back to the bivvy i was chilled to the bone and in need of another brew!

With a visit from one of the regular anglers we were sat having a coffee at around 4.30 when the same rod went off again. I hit it and ducked back into the front of the shelter of the bivvy to get out of the rain and played the fish out, once nearing the margins it was netted for me, and we lifted a cracking 14lb mirror to the mat. This session was turning out quite productive!

With shots done she was slid back to her watery home non the worse for her ordeal. By this time it was pitch black and once Keith had left it was time to get a curry on the go. By 8pm it had been dark for what seemed like forever and it was time to turn in, for the warmth of the bag more than sleep. The rain was still hammering down and eventually i drifted off to the sound of it beating on the winter skin.Waking to a couple of bleeps i swung my feet out to feel for my boots, only to put them into 2 inches of water that was flooding in from the back of the bivvy, peeling off the wet socks i got into my boots and flicked the light on to see my groundsheet was completely flooded. With curses galore i wrapped the sleeping kit into its waterproof bag, covered the bed with my poncho and hauled the kit up onto the high bank behind me, it was probably the fastest move ever made and within a few minutes i was setting up home albeit 3 ft above the rods. After a brew and much needed smoke i was back in the bag and fast asleep with a pair of very muddy soggy socks dumped outside the doorway.

Waking on first light to freezing cold wind and driving rain, hammering into my bivvy, i realised it had turned to a wet north easterly, if id though the previous day to be cold, jeez this was icy . After topping up the main spot with another 30 baits i  flicked the kettle on and rolled a smoke. I made the decision to drop back down to the level of the rods but on the opposite side to the previous evening the moment the rain stopped. Out of nowhere the middle rod ripped off again and i had to clamber the few feet down the bank to get onto the thumping rod. The fish was soon in the folds of the net and was a small but very well scaled mirror carp of 8lb.

 As i slipped it back i realised i should have moved the fish into the stock pond but it was too late now. The rain was easing and it was time to get back to ground level, i didn't like having to get down the high bank with having rods near snags. So a third set up was made in less that 24 hours, but at least the wind was off my back and the rods just outside the doorway. Time for some breakfast.

Once that was out the way it was time to rethink the 2 rods that had been silent, The rod from the bay was brought up onto the bed of bait near the point and the island rod was brought back to the sunken rocks off the front of the point, after a few trial casts with just a lead, to find the edge of the rocks, the rig was re attached and positioned a yard short to give me confidence to get the fish away from the underwater dangers. Mid afternoon came about and after a hearty lunch i was treated to another screaming take off the same rod again, resulting in a stunning scaley mirror weighing in at 15lb that gave me a pretty good tussle for the temperatures and time of year.

 The daylight soon passed into darkness and the temperatures dropped out again. With being alone up on the lake it wasn't long before id grown bored of my own company and it was time to settle into the bag with a book and some tunes playing quietly in the bivvy.

Waking to broad daylight, id slept through undisturbed again, the night had been cold and the frost was still clinging to the trees and bushes, the mats and weighing kit was frozen solid but the sun was up in the sky and it felt so good to feel its rays on me. By mid morning the point and the island were receiving the full benefit from the sun and i had seen what i was sure to be a fish moving tight to the island so without giving it a thought i reached for a rod and flicked it out to within a yard of the rocks. It hadn't been out there more than an hour when it ripped off, lifting into what felt like another low double, i bullied it away from the island only for it to head to the point, having no option but to lean on it to stop it going round the point itself, it turned easily and headed towards me, keeping the line tight i crouched to prepare the net and the line went slack, it was off...gutted. A few curses exploded out of my mouth and i sulked back to the comfort of the bivvy. Getting the rod re baited and on the spot was easy enough , but by the time id done it i was frozen to the core and shivering violently. I banged the kettle on and jumped into the bag to defrost.
Evening came round quickly as it does at this time of the year and it was soon dark. The clouds had stayed away and the wind was dropping off nicely, the stars were out and very impressive with little light pollution this high up in the hills but it was too cold to appreciate them really. Again another night passed with no interruptions and by morning, looking out to see the lake frozen and the muddy banks hard as iron. reality hit as to how cold it must have dropped to. The new sleep system standing the test nicely as i hadn't had a cold night in it as yet and it had really dipped down. With the thermometer reading -6 and with clear sky's the following night was likely to be similar or worse. By 2pm the ice had pretty much disappeared but id already made the decision to call the session to an end. I was happy and contented to have banked 4 from 5 takes and the craving to feel fish fighting me was fed.

The Black Water session 5

Managing an early start to the session due to the poor weather conditions, i managed to arrive at the lake with a couple of hours daylight to spare giving me an extra night on the bank. With the coots still being present in numbers i opted to fish large bags of crumbed Bacteria B1's and the areas were peppered with 20 baits close to the areas of the hook baits. By dark i was fully organised and had the rods settled on some areas of hard substrate away from the stinking silty pockets and as the light was fading the sky cleared, giving way to a very starry sky. The temperatures plummeted soon after dark and the evening had closed in, by around 5 it was completely dark,

After a good hot meal and a fair few cuppas it wasn't long before the temperatures had me settling into the bag for a warm up and a read.
Throughout the night the wind swung around and when the cloud came in the pressure dropped and the rain started. Friday morning came and went without so much as an indication on the alarms and by lunchtime i was ready to re bait and re position them onto the same spots, once done the coots were on me in a flash and the annoying little gits just wouldn't leave me alone. Throughout the day, eyes were on the water looking for signs of the fish holding up or moving about but nothing was seen.
As evening approached it was time to re organise the rods and once done i waited for the lower light levels before trying to apply some freebies into the spots.
Again an uneventful night passed with a hand full of serious rainstorms coming my way and waking at first light would see me paddling around in a flooded mud bath. Ive never been one to clean and look after my kit, but this place was starting to make even me look bad !

With the last night coming up i moved one of the rods off the clay plateau i had been fishing and opted to fish this rod on the far margin, flicking the marker out over there i was finding a couple of extra foot of water but no underwater features to go at so it was more a case of just banging it out into the silt and seeing what would come of it. Mid afternoon and the bobbin on the right hand rod kissed the carbon and dropped back, i hit it to feel and lose a fish in a fraction of a second. Reeling in, i soon saw that the hook had folded back on itself and set the point into the coating on the braided hook length. A freaky random occurrence that Ive never had happen before and hopefully never will again.

The evening passed in good company and with one of the lads banking a mirror that we've had previously at an ounce under 19lb at least we got to set eyes on a carp !
The lake is now starting to fill up and is probably sat at around 3 1/2 acres currently. I'm sure we've only a hand full of sessions left on it before the venue becomes around 16 acres of flood land and impossible to fish due to the bank sides flooding and the volume of water it contains in the winter months, but being optimistic i think we have a few weeks left yet !

The Black Water session 4

On arrival at the lay bye i was gutted to see a car already in place. Once on the lake, but under cover of darkness still, i could make out 2 bivvys set up at the far end so opted for the right hand end of the island, one rod was flicked out into the open water to my right on a multi rig with a scud pop up on and once daylight came through it was time to drop the other 2 rods tight to the island snags, one in the black hole and one to the right of it. One big problem, someone had fished the swim since i was last up here, they had managed to snag the trees and pull a branch right across the hole. I dropped the rig a little short and soon followed it with the other rod, both going out on Bacteria B1's topped with 8mm scuds, both on simple blow back rigs to a heavy fixed lead set up.
The day was cold with a north westerly pushing hard across the venue, with a fair old chop down at the farther end. I had slack water to my right which meant spotting any signs should be easy. Leaving the rods untouched throughout the morning the plan had been to spod chopped/crushed boilies over the spots but having made a trial cast with the spomb and with the side wind hitting it, it carried itself to the trees and stayed put. Embarrassingly i had finally left my mark on the lake. From that point on i had to rely on topping up the swim with small pva bags of crumb, catapulted out the 30 yards to the island. It wouldn't be too long before the pesky coots had found me and started to clean me out, once they left i would top up the area again and they would come in and steal it all, this procedure would continue throughout the day.
By mid day the other anglers had left and having had a chat with them they had baited up heavily and not seen a fish for the time they had been on.
As the evening drew on and darkness was falling the coots made off to the sanctuary of the snags and i could finally get some bait to the bottom of the lake.
Waking the following morning from a deep sleep i was bemused as to having had an undisturbed night. I had really expected a pick up from the area having had a good session in here the fist time on. The following day was like groundhog day, i baited up, the coots wiped me out, i bait up and it starts all over again, i wonder what the coots eat when im not there ?
 By mid afternoon the wind had switched around to more northerly and had warmed a little. By evening i was considering a move for the last night, but decided to stay put and give the area a bit more time, the coots can find the bait with ease so if the fish were in the area it would only be a matter of time before they came across it. Another reasoning behind not moving was the fact of the unknown amount of bait in that area of the lake
Again, the night was quiet with no activity in the area of my rods. Come daylight the same old story began with the coots picking me clean of everything i put in. In hindsight i should have prepared a bucket of particles and chucked it in down the far end of the lake. I know next session i will be doing just that.
With a session organised on the Meadows syndicate in 2 weekends time i wont have the time to fit another session in on here till after that, so thoughts of the place are now on the back burner as my attentions turn to preparing the kit for a damn good social on what can be, one of the most frustrating but challenging and stunning pools i've ever fished.